The Music of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ Parts One and Two Tracklist
Adding to Heap’s catalogue of work for visual media, The Music of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ Parts One and Two sees Heap re-imagine some of her existing catalogue to soundtrack the play of the same name.
The award-winning soundtrack came to life after Heap received a phone call from the play’s Steven Hoggett asking if they could continue to use her music as it was “just really really working,” – to which Heap naturally responded with an “of course!” Then, after appearing at a play workshop 2 months later, Heap was officially asked to be the composer.
Despite her experiences with short films, feature length films and television, this is the first time Heap has worked in a theatre environment. Contrasting against her insular solo work in her studio, Heap took to a mobile studio to make selections from her back catalogue – even her Love the Earth material – feel as if they had been written for the play.
Aided by suggestions for each scene by Hoggitt and music supervisor Martin Lowe, Heap took on the uplifting and motivating creative energy to test her skills to the max and created a total of 2 and a half hours of music for the play. Following several contractual issues, the album release for the soundtrack was finally announced mid 2018, splitting the album into 4 musical suites to match the play’s 4 acts. Providing a unique listening experience through its unusual and unique format, the soundtrack captures the feeling of each act confidently within each suite.
Preceded by 3 promotional singles – “Platform 9 ¾”, “In Trouble (Again)” and “Godric’s Hollow” – the soundtrack was finally released to the public in November 2018.
“The Music of ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ Parts One and Two” Q&A
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Which instruments did Imogen play on the album?
Although it’s a bit difficult to pick out where each instrument appears – due to how Heap likes to manipulate sounds – she is listed in the album liner notes as playing the following instruments:
- Vocals
- Piano
- Array Mbira
- Cello
- Drums
- Vibes/Vibraphone
- Clarinet
- Hang
- Tongue Drum
- Marxophone
- Shruti Box
- Autoharp
- Nail Violin
- Boomwhackers
- Glockenspiel
- Whirly Tubes
- Teenage Engineering OP-1
- Tuned and Untuned Percussion
- Body Percussion
Additionally, the following plugins were listed in the liner notes:
- Mi.Mu Gloves in combination with the Glover software
- Sonic Couture’s Box of Tricks
- Strezov Sampling Macabre
- Sonarworks' Reference Calibration
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How did Imogen come to be involved with the play?
Speaking in the liner notes for the album, Heap explained that she and Steven Hoggett – Cursed Child’s movement director – had met years ago and had enjoyed working with him before:
I remember I was pushing a pram around some muddy fields when I got a call from Steven, saying he and director John TIffany were working on a new play and throwing my music around in the workshop sessions, and that it was feeling good. He asked if I would be happy for him to continue… I said yes, of course, but asked him what the play was. He said, ‘Oh, I can’t tell you yet… but it’s got something to do with a boy with a scar.’ That was when I knew something was up that could shake things a little!
It wasn’t until two months later I went into one of the workshops, and it all started to make sense. John pretty much asked me as I walked in the door, would I be the composer of the play. I was stunned. And of
course, I said yes.
